Farewell and Goodbye
by Anonymonimus
Summary: Alternative Thilbo Bagginshield Ending. CONTAINS SPOILERS. Fluff :D Bilbo is guided back to Thorin's side to hear what he has to say and a second secret may or may not be revealed in the process.


**THIS CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS TO THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET REACHED THE END OF THE HOBBIT SO TO AVOID A BEAUTIFUL SPOILER, DON'T READ IT OKAY?**

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**Now that that's done and dealt, we can move on xP**

**So, this is my first Hobbit fiction lol and I decided to write a Thilbo Bagginshield (ish) end to the story, taking up the part where Bilbo wakes up after the battle of Five Armies is done and morphing it from there xD I don't know if I was the only one who felt this way but Thorin's death seemed kind of...rushed? I don't know, I like more emotional, heavy things that make you SOB (like a baby) when characters die (like when Lee from Walking Dead died - look another spoiler lol) so when Thorin died, especially with all the punctuations and stuff, to me it seemed like all he really said to Bilbo was: "PEACE OUT BRO! GUNNA GO SEE MY GRAND DAD AND POPS IN HEAVEN YO!" (okay not as bad as that but still)**

**So anyways, because I wasn't really satisfied with the ending, I decided to write another more Thilbo Bagginshield one that contains the sadness I wanted to find in that ending xD And without further ado,**

**ENJOY!**

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When Bilbo awoke, the war had long since ended and all of the goblins and Orcs once surrounding him as a menace now laid dead on the ground. Among the many dead Orcs and Goblins were also countless Men, Dwarves and Elves which desolated Bilbo for these were his fallen comrades. There was a moment of mourning before the hobbit stood and peered around for familiar faces dead or alive – preferably the latter. Everything around him was utterly silent for the longest time before he heard the voice of a stranger call out his name. It was an Elf-man searching through the corpse for him, calling for him gradually louder with each step.

"I'm over here!" Bilbo responded loudly, wobbly getting to his feet.

The Elf-man jerked his head in Bilbo's direction where he had thought to have heard the voice, but quickly looked away and continued to scout. "Pray tell where _here_ is?" He asked, irritation evident in his voice.

"Over—" Bilbo quickly interrupted himself as he remembered the presence of the ring on his finger. He had been so scared of the danger lurking on the battleground that he had slipped the ring on quickly and cowered in safety for the first part of the fight. Of course, his Took side eventually took over and forced him to pulled out Sting and fight with his allies. However, Bilbo had never taken off the ring which also presently explained why the Elf-man struggled in finding him. "Silly me. I forgot to take off my ring." Bilbo smiled at his forgetfulness and took off the ring before calling again. "Here I am! Here I am!" he called flailing his arms around.

This time the Elf-man noticed him and quickly made for where he stood. "You should thank Gandalf when we return, Mr Baggins, if it weren't for him, we would have presumed you dead and abandoned you here." He said helping Bilbo out of the pile of corpse surrounding the poor hobbit.

"Is it safe to assume that we won the war?" Bilbo asked.

"Won?" the Elf-man scoffed, "Not only have we won but we also reduced the goblin population to nearly zero, of course I can not speak for the Orcs since we do not know how many of their people they have sent. Of course, this is something you will hear about later, we have something a little more urgent to attend to."

"Oh, and what may that be?" Bilbo asked curiously, he was tired and hungry so if whatever it was, was something that could wait then he would make it wait.

The Elf-man seemed to have guessed tired Bilbo's reasoning and said: "I assure you Mr Baggins, it is something that can not wait and once it is over, you will be fed to your satisfaction."

"Yes, thank you, but what is it I must attend?" Bilbo insisted.

There was a moment of silence in which the Elf-man looked considerably uncomfortable before finally deciding to speak. "It is something I would rather not want to announce to you myself, Mr Baggins. Let us make this walk short in order to quench your curiosity quickly but to also reach the destination before time runs out."

Not only did the answer further confuse Bilbo Baggins on what it was he was supposed to attend but now, it also worried him greatly. Along side the Elf-man that came to pluck him from the corpses of fallen warriors, Bilbo returned to the hastily established campgrounds in which dwelt the few Men, Dwarves and Elves devoid of the joy of victory. Many of their comrades, friends and family had fallen and even though the goblins (and potentially the Orcs) would be a threat to none more due to their great efforts, the great loss merely overshadowed their accomplishment. And it was as Bilbo was guided through the few tents and wounded soldiers howling in pain that he saw ten familiar faces with mournful expressions. Granted, everyone that the hobbit had encountered thus far had mournful expressions but those of the ten dwarves seemed to have been the worse and, although they foreshadowed what Bilbo was to attend, the latter was currently too oblivious to realise such a thing.

So unaware Bilbo Baggins reached a tent wreaking death and just as he was about to be led inside, Gandalf came out with a reassuring smile. His arms were opened and soon enveloped the Hobbit with deep sentiment. "My dear Bilbo! I knew you were still alive!" he chuckled softly but the Wizard soon stopped himself. "But now is not the time for a joyous reunion, I fear there is something much more pressing and grieving that you must attend now."

"Grieving?" the Hobbit replied worriedly.

But before he could ask further question, the Arkenstone was pushed into his small hands and Bilbo couldn't have been more confused. He stared at the Wizard, beginning to understand something that he didn't want to understand. "He has wished to see you alone before the end would take him. Now go." And just as so, Bilbo was pushed into a tent in which laid Thorin Oakenshield gravely wounded, covered in blood, fighting for a few more moments to live. The Hobbit felt his heart drop at that moment and he stood petrified at the entrance of the place he would soon come to hate.

"Come, Halfling." Thorin ordered, mustering enough strength to sound as though he would escape death.

With hesitant steps, Bilbo walked towards the dying Dwarf-King, his hands tightening around the Arkenstone as if it would stop his heart from beating so loudly and so heavily. And, wordlessly, Bilbo stood next to the bed, wondering what it was he should say or what it was he wanted to say for the last time. Thorin was dying, that much was evident on its own, but this was the first time that the Hobbit ever had to deal with someone he admired greatly _dying_. However, the fact that – at the exception of the ring – Bilbo held another secret, one which he wouldn't have thought of admitting if the circumstances had been different, made this situation much more difficult to bare.

"I-I'm sorry for betraying you," Bilbo stammered quickly, desperately trying to keep himself together. "I was only trying to avoid conflict and, well, it obviously hasn't worked…"

"Quiet." Thorin was soon to order. "I am dying and I wish to speak everything that rests upon my heart before death claims me." Bilbo flinched and nodded, gesturing that he would keep quiet. In return, Thorin smiled (and it wasn't one of those forced smiles that had appeared so many times along their journey – no – it was a genuine smile). "Halfling," the Dwarf-King began, still unable (or refusing) to call Bilbo by his proper name, "Although you have committed a mistake, it seems that I have committed multiple." Bilbo noticed that Thorin's voice began to weaken in authority and strength; he also began to speak at a gradually faster pace. "Countless times I have doubted your capabilities as a burglar and of your general usefulness. Though you have proven yourself repeatedly, I have always seemed to forget so and beat you down with my harsh words in the hopes of just having you leave the company. For that, I am sorry—" Thorin coughed violently, hacking out blood in the process before resting weakly on the bed. Bilbo opened his mouth to speak but the Dwarf-King beat him to it. "—there is one last thing I wish to know, Halfling." And Bilbo nodded. "Why was it that you saved me and protected me time and again?"

Bilbo's cheeks flushed lightly and now that he was permitted to speak, he couldn't keep himself from stammering uncontrollably. "I-I well, I have a home that I love very much and you had nothing so I wanted to help you—"

"Stop with the rubbish, Halfling." Thorin interrupted violently but then he hacked again and resumed with his weaker tone of voice. "This is the end for me and I wish to know why you repeatedly put yourself in harm's way to protect me when all I've ever done was put you down. The mere will to have someone experience the same joy as oneself can not be enough to persevere with the conditions I put in place."

"It is sometimes…" Bilbo muttered, and at that point, he could feel himself crack beneath the weight of his second secret and he really just wanted to come out and say it, to tell Thorin, but something held him back and he couldn't. "It must have been horrible to have your world crash down on your shoulders in a few seconds…"

Thorin smiled again. "I told you to stop with the rubbish." He nearly whispered. "But it's too late. I leave now to the great hall where I shall find my father and my father's father greeting me with open arms—"

"Wait!" Bilbo yelled desperately, throwing himself at Thorin's side. "Don't—not now! Don't go now!"

"Death doesn't wait, Half—"

And that was when Bilbo Baggins couldn't hold in his secret any longer. He placed the Arkenstone in Thorin's weak hand then leaned over and pressed their lips together almost as desperately as he had spoken. Thorin's eyes widened slightly and understood why Bilbo had stayed by his side for so long and what had pushed him to protect he and his company countless times.

"I'm glad we can part as friends and not foes." Thorin whispered, peering at the Arkenstone one last time before resting his gaze on the Hobbit. "Nonetheless I wish we could have spent more time together…farewell Bilbo Baggins."

Thorin Oakenshield's eyes slowly closed and his breathing steadied to a halt. He was now dead and Bilbo was sobbing uncontrollably, his head resting on the deceased's chest. It had taken many months, prior to the funeral and burial, for Bilbo Baggins to be able to utter a single playful word once more. And even then, after the return journey had long since been accomplished, Bilbo, as Gandalf had said, was never the same and all of the other Hobbits had noticed so. Bilbo's mind always seemed to be wandering away from the shire, but no one knew it travelled far over the misty mountains, to dungeons deep and caverns old, before resting on what was once the long forgotten gold of the Dwarves of the lonely mountain. And whenever Bilbo really had time to replay his adventures in his head and remember each bittersweet moment he had spent with Thorin, he always found himself fingering the ring that nested in his pocket.

"One day, I'll go back." He promised to himself.

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**"Maybe he falls in love with Thorin..." - Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins)**

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**So no I didn't make a mistake when I said TEN dwarves instead of TWELVE because, for those who didn't know and still read even with the spoiler warning, Fili and Kili died :S You know, all of my fav dwarves died... I blame Sean Bean because he cursed me (don't get me wrong, I still adore him as an actor lol) Of course, maybe I should have mentioned that Fili and Kili died somewhere in there but I couldn't remember if Thorin was the one who told Bilbo or if Tolkien just wrote it as a 'BTW, guess who died' thing in the narration...**

**Anyways, it wasn't really important to where I wanted to go with the story so you'll just have to forgive me if you're holding this against me xP**

**Oh and that quote is legitimate, I'm just deforming the context a little xP If you wanna know in which context he says it, just review and ask the question and I'll be sure to answer lol.**

**Hope you enjoyed my alternative 'Bagginshield' end!**

**I TAKE REQUESTS (just putting it out there because I want to write more Hobbit fics but I don't know what EXACTLY I should write lol)**

**AND SEE YOU (possibly) IN ANOTHER HOBBIT FIC OR SOMETHING!**


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